Uneven Odds
by G. Sun
Summary: While Risa's gone and Mia captured, it's up to Mizuki to keep the Heartless at bay? But for how long can she manage to save herself? Maybe she'll need some unlikely help from a certain somebody who knows about her missing family's whereabouts. Read after AN INCREDIBLE DUO.
1. Chapter 1

**Let's how Mizuki is grasping the Heartless situation at hand.**

Okay, she told me to go find Erick, and that's what I'm gonna do. No distractions, no obstacles, just get to Erick. I hope Risa will be fine, she said she was had Dark connections 'cuz the kid in the mask brought her down there. She had a scary, near-death experience in some evil dark abyss and now she's going back just to save this world. That girl's got some guts. I wish I could be as strong and courageous as her. But there's no point wishing on what I could be, I gotta focus on what I have to deal with now and that's finding Erick. He should be at his office at this hour, right? Okay Miz, run!

My heel throbs when I take another step-these flats are not meant for running. "Just suck it up and move," I encourage myself as I run along the sidewalk. I don't see any more Heartless here, does that mean that Risa and I defeated them all? The street adjacent to me cracks as a huge quake makes me stumble to the ground. I hang on to the fire hydrant for support, wondering why Mother Nature decides to have an earthquake today of all the days. Windows all along the street shatter and when I think it won't ever end, it eventually does. "What was that about?"

I get up and rush down the street Erick's office is at, sprinting as my life and the lives of everyone here depended on it. When I breeze through the door, Erick looks up from his papers calmly. "Hello Mizuki, here for a mission?"

"Here for a mission? Are you crazy?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with _me_? There are Heartless running around-don't you watch the news or listen to the radio? Do you keep yourself here all the time?" I berate, flailing my arms around crazily. It drives me insane that this guy is sitting in here doing paper work while the world's ending. What makes people like him so damn calm during crisis modes like this? Another earthquake rattles the office, the lamp falls off the desk and breaks, leaving us in the dark, and Erick grips the edges of his seat as I slide under the desk. The earthquake stops and I get out from under the desk. "Like now."

Erick sighs, losing his nonchalant expression and gets up from the chair. "This is a bad situation we're in. But if you didn't come for a mission then why did you come?"

"To ask you some questions and for you to help me out," I reply urgently, picking up the fallen stool and plop on it. "So someone opened the black door to this world right?"

"Yes and no."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"The black door was hidden in this world because something powerful was repelling the Heartless away. Whatever was stopping them must have been destroyed and therefore let them the Heartless in here. If the door had been opened we wouldn't be here so we're alright now," he briefly explains sternly.

"So what does that mean?"

"That means that if whatever was broken in this world is fixed, then the Darkness would be pushed back for a while."

"Not permanently?" I whine.

"Well Mizuki, nothing that's broken and then fixed is ever the same again. This world is now susceptible to Darkness and will always be."

"Shit." What the hell do I do now Risa? Whatever we do, it's not gonna solve the problem forever. Is that why-the future looked just like this except scarier? No way, gotta stay optimistic. "What're you going to do?" he asks curiously.

"I'm going to try to stop the Heartless from coming through," I say resolutely, making him rub his temple. "What?"

"Imagine that there's a dam and there's a crack in it. Now you take some gum and stop water from leaking out-"

"What does this have to do with anything?" I impatiently ask.

"Listen to me Mizuki. Because you plugged up the hole, another hole bursts out and you plug that other one up. And then another crack opens up-"

"So plug up all the holes!" I finish his analogy, tired of listening to the nonsense this guy's going on about. He shakes head while waving his hand in my face. "Now if you plug up all the holes, you know very well the dam will simply burst open."

"So the dam is the world?"

"Precisely."

"Aaagh! So then what do I do? If I don't find out how to close the Heartless' openings to the world then they'll come pouring in and this world wouldn't be able to sustain it. Damn it, damn it!" I run my fingernails through my hair and gulp nervously. I'm feeling hungry but food has to come after doing my job. I raise my head and stubbornly persist, "Listen Erick, when Tokyo was lost to the Darkness, I felt helpless and weak and back then-I was, wasn't I?"

"Yes," agrees Erick, his face saying "where are you going with this?"

"But now, I'm stronger and better and this is happening again. Don't you think I should fight to keep this world alive?"

"I never said otherwise, I just said that the odds were not in your favor. So as long as there's Darkness in people's hearts Mizuki, the Heartless will always be there, I told you that when you first got here. Yes, you defeating them will slow them down but it will not permanently get this world out of the clear," explains Erick matter-of-factly. He's such a black and white person, is there no hope residing within him?

"Damn it, I came to you 'cause Risa told me you would know what to do to save us but obviously this is a big waste of time," I turn for the door, eager to leave this office. Erick's hand on my shoulder stops me.

"What is Risa doing?"

"Well, she said she was gonna find the source of the Heartless." He snorts, and then sits down on the side of his desk. "What? It's funny that we're actually trying to save the world while you're doing paperwork? Risa said coming here would be beneficial and it really wasn't!"

"That's not it. You and Risa remind me of when I was younger and I thought I could save my world, and be some sort of superhero. You have a lot of radical ideas in your head Mizuki and you're young so you'll think what you're doing is right and just. But if you want to give being a superhero a shot, then go for it. Find the black door and shut it, close the wormholes the Heartless are entering from but don't let the Darkness grab hold of you because it will never let you go. Never." I gulp, stroking my hair, Erick's sudden gloomy and pessimistic tone becomes a thick mist that fills me up with fear and doubt. Fear and doubt didn't stop Risa though, she's jumping straight back into the Darkness. I gotta be brave like her.

"So close the wormholes and the black door?" I make a mental note while I open the door.

"That should do it. Now if you excuse me, I'm closing the office until things are back in place again."

"Sure-"

"And Mizuki?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Mia?" I almost forgot about her being Don's captive. I've gotta find her too and get her out or else Don does something to her. "Don't worry about her, I'll get her out of this mess." The sky grew darker while I was inside, the Heartless are winning. I have to turn the tide of this invasion and I have the tools to do so. A stronger earthquake shakes everything suddenly-no, it's not an earthquake, an earthquake doesn't roar. I turn up the corner and I'm greeted by a humongous purple beast with a horn on its head. When it plants its foot in the chipped, cracked road, I move along the building walls while everything trembles violently. Ok Byakugan, I need you.

Opening my eyes, I hustle towards the back of the beast without it noticing me, which was glowing an eerie purple. I follow the dark outlines to its portal as it tries to bring itself into this world. Okay look for something, anything that looks like it doesn't belong besides the colossal Heartless. "Think fast, think fast, think fast," I stroke my hair repeatedly until I find something dark violet going horizontally across the portal. Without much thought, I put my hands through the portal and latch onto the stem. It feels like a tree branch there are all these white nodes filled in the stem.

Straining and biting down on my teeth, I bend the tree branch-like thing until it snaps. I pull my hands out and they're covered in some strange goo. When I return to my normal sight, the Heartless and its portal is gone, the craters in the ground are still there-whatever, I stopped the earthquakes, that's good enough. But now what?

J.G.P.


	2. Chapter 2

What else can I do? I'm as a helpless as a baby right now. Suddenly feeling cranky, I take my seat on the sidewalk, taking in all the sounds around me, the obnoxious alarms blaring among the empty streets, and the falling traffic lights that can't stand themselves up any longer. Everyone's got something to do, Risa was really counting on me but am I doing the right thing? Erick basically said there's barely any hope left for this world. No way, I can't let her down, especially knowing that Risa went through such hardship in the past 24 hours. After running my fingers through my hair so much that some strands are entwined in my fingers, I sigh heavily as I recall the future I got stuck in.

The future that I saw…it was almost like this. Heartless swarming the streets, sirens going, people hiding and hurrying along. There has to be a way to end it all, end all this evil once and for all. If I can change something here, then could I change the future? "No, get away from me!" a man's horrified tone breaks through my thoughts. Immediately blinking into the Byakugan eyes, I turn the corner only to quickly bump into the guy yelling. "Excuse you!" I shout irritably but he shoves me down as he gets to his feet. As I glare up at him, two Heartless jump the guy and send him to the pavement. He stops screaming by the time I pick myself up and his body has vanished. The Heartless fight over the rose-colored heart that hangs over where the man's body used to be. I charge over to them and jab both of them so that they release their hearts. _"Mizuki, t__he hero of this world. Why not summon your fighter to come here?"_

I whirl my head around to face the source of the voice, surprised to see Space in the middle of all this chaos. The lack of chakra points is the only way I can identify him. But why should I surprised? He's in league with Dori! "What're you doing here?" I ask harshly.

"_Watching."_

"Watching what?"

"_This world I created which might fall to ruins."_

"Wait a sec, you created this place?" I wipe some sweat off my forehead as he turns away from me and strolls off. I follow after him while scanning the place for any more Heartless. _"That I did, I created all the worlds."_

"All of them? Even my own?" I wonder aloud as he paces through the streets.

"_Even your own world. And this world is going to follow in your world's-"_

"Don't say it 'cuz it's not true. If you're here and you're talking about all this creating worlds and stuff, then that means you're here to save this place."

"_I'm a spectator." _I can't believe what I'm hearing, the creator of these worlds is just gonna watch this world go to waste-like he did to my world, and Risa's and Mia's. Stopping abruptly, I clench my shaking fists and my eyesight returns to normal. Space continues his leisurely stroll as if it was a normal day in Metropolis. "Is that all you do? Watch as worlds fall, do you take pleasure in this? Seeing all these people suffer, seeing me suffer?" He stops but doesn't turn around.

"I am not a human being. _I don't have sentimental attachments to things I create. My purpose is not to save the worlds, it is merely to create them and have someone watch over them," _he explains nonchalantly. _"It does bother me, however when my worlds are falling to Heartless."_

"That's something we can agree on," I mutter sarcastically. "So help me out, come on. I can't let this world fall like my home world did."

"_I'm a spectator," _repeats Space and he continues to walk in the middle of the deserted street as a few people flee past us. As I follow him into this unfamiliar part of the city, I glance around at the abandoned cars in the road and the valuables people left behind on the sidewalk, cellphones, toys, keys, jewelry, etc. The sirens are still going off despite the fact it seems like everyone has evacuated this area. "Sorry, I can't afford to be a spectator. I still think that this place has a chance of survival-if you're gonna stop me then I'll hurt you," I snap as I jump in front of him and stand with my hands raised. How can someone so human be so inhumane? The man_-the thing_ that took my family away is just staring at me blankly, mocking my determination probably. _"This anger goes beyond this planet doesn't it?"_

"What're you talking about?"

"_You aren't just thinking about this world, your anger is raised to me." _ I grit my teeth as my fists tremble in anger. _"How selfish you humans are." _

"You took away my family, should I run over to you and give you a big hug? Call me selfish if you want," I begrudgingly say, "I don't need to justify my hatred for everything you did. Why did you do it?" I demand as I storm towards him. "Why did you take away my brother and mom?"

"_Is your family with you now?" _asks Space calmly as I deepen my scowl. Why can't I get straight answers from anyone?_ "I asked a question, aren't you going to answer? Is your family standing by your side as you speak?" _ My eyes fall to the street as I struggle to reply to his question. It takes a minute for me to swallow my anger and answer him. "No."

"_You're only concern should be the fate of this world Mizuki."_

"You're telling me to let go of my family?"

"_This world is inching closing to the Darkness every second. Do you care more about the family that's absent or the sake of this world?" _

"My-! My family_-_the world," I admit reluctantly, lowering my hands. He has a point, Mom, Dad, nor Haruki are here with me so why should I bother badgering him? I had already decided that after escaping the future that I had a new family, Mia and Risa. They're the ones who got me this far, how could I forget? Besides, I highly doubt he cares about what happened to my family. "I'm not forgetting about what you did to them," I sigh exasperatedly as I cross my arms. The world the three of us are trying to save is more important than them for now. "Now how am I going to stop the Heartless?"

"_I am a spectator-"_

"I know already, tell me something I don't know!"

"_However this is an unnatural disaster. As long as there's a light willing to beat back the darkness, some help can be given."_

"I don't even-what?" he takes long strides towards the nearby park. I practically have to run to keep up with him. "What're you doing?" While walking through the empty park, seeing Heartless appear in my peripheral vision makes me jump into a fighting stance but Space stretches his arm out in front of me. "You don't want me to fight them?"

"_I will offer you my help if you want it. You need to listen to me carefully because my time here is running short. Many worlds as you already know are falling to the Darkness-I can assure you it is not my doing. It is most likely Dori's-"_

"Can you please get to the point?" I try rushing him as the Heartless start to surround us. He clears his throat and glances at the creatures pointing their claws at us. "_I will keep the Heartless at bay for a short while." _With the wave of his hand, the Heartless are stunned where they are and then are lifted into the air by plasma-like crimson spheres. They instantly burst into violet gas but the spheres grow without them inside. I step back as the spheres begin to cover both of us, covering the view of the rest of the desolate park. _"Up the hill east from here, there is a weapon that is shrouded in Darkness, it may have some value to you. And when Dori arrives, and I know he will, he will tear this world asunder."_

"I'm not gonna let that happen," I reply defiantly as the shadow-less spheres augment in size. Space places his hands behind his back, unmoved by my declaration. _"Best of luck. The fate of this world rests in the hands of the humans." _The spheres burst, creating a powerful gust that almost sends me flying into the lake. I crouch down and cover my head as I hear the benches flip over and a few trees go tumbling to the ground. When it all stops, Space is gone and the park looks as if a tornado blew through it. "If you have the power to stop the Heartless from coming, then why don't you save this place?" I scream into the blackening sky. Well, I doubt he's coming back, I've got no choice but to follow his hint-now what did he say about a weapon?

As I make my way up to the top of the hill, I trip over something. I fall on my side, wondering I could've tripped over. Once I get up, I scrutinize the area carefully for anything that looks like a weapon. "No, that's a tree branch…just a rock…what could he talking about-gaah!" Again I slip on something and fall face-flat into the dry soil. I sit up and impatiently pat my hands everywhere around me. Finally I feel something firm and latch onto it, but I can't see it. Using the Byakugan eyes, I see that in my hand, this long stick is filled with Darkness like the one Mia carries around on her back. "That's it! It's Mia's. I have to get this to her right now." Don took her but I'm gonna get her back, but not by myself. I'll get the authorities to bust her out.

'''

By the time I leave the park, the sky has a tomato tint to its gaping black color. Shouts and chattering grow louder the further down the street I go. Maybe not everyone has died yet, thank goodness, that means that Space actually did keep the Heartless away, but for how long? That doesn't erase what he did to my family, once this is over I'm gonna confront him and demand the truth from him. Arriving at the police station, there's a huge crowd trying to get inside. "I need to get inside!" I yell as I try to push through the crowd of terrified people.

"My wife's gone!"

"My son-he went missing, help me!"

"Please, we need help!"

"It's useless," I mutter as I'm pushed back behind the crowd. "I'm running out of time."

J.G.P.

**We're getting there guys, a pretty big fight is gonna be happening soon and I hope you're all there for that!**


End file.
